Recently picked up a copy of Mike Heck's Spring Creek Strategies and am about half way through. I like the sidebar format with some of Mike's antidotes and fly patterns. Certainly should be part of any fly fisherman's library. Some of the great photography makes you want to jump in the car on a cool fall morning and head for the Cumberland Valley.

Mike includes some interesting patterns he developed. You have to wonder if there isn't another book coming on just the fly patterns? I am going to make a point of searching him out at one of the fly shows.

That's what prompted me to start a thread about his book. I think I would classify the book a step or two above a basics book. I always consider a basics book one which describes, casting, knots, etc.

The first stream I fly fished was Fall Spring. I think I hooked one fish which broke off immediately. Talk about getting taken to school. I later found out I was the freshman taking the graduate course.

But there is an alluring beauty to the spring creeks in that area that can make even a fish less outing a memorable day. I've since made another trip to Big Spring, Letort, and Yellow Breeches. Caught a couple at each but by no means satisfied with how well I did. I'll be back this fall to try again.

The book really fits with where I'm at in my learning curve, both fishing and tying. It's also great to see another generation of Pennsylvania flyfisher/authors contributing to the tradition.

If you want to learn to fish those fantastic creeks i would suggest hitting Mike up for a day of guiding. My brother and I have been out with him twice and he is one hell of a nice guy and a very knowledgable fisherman. We had fished those creeks in the Cumberland Valley for a year or two before getting his assistance and never caught more than 1 or two fish per outing. But, like you said, even a fishless day on those beautiiful Spring Creeks is a good day. Once we went out with him our catch ratio went up astoundingly after learning a few good tricks of the "Spring Creek Trade". I also came away from our last trip with a signed copy of the book.

JoelD,Did Mike teach you not to stand in the middle of the stream while fishing? I remember seeing you and another guy standing in the middle of Falling Springs and thinking," Those dudes must be freestoner fishermen." Then you email me and I saw you were from Ohio so I figured I guessed right.

haha, funny you remember that. My brother and i are in fact freestone guys most of the time so we are used to spending alot of time in the water. We originally hail from Venango County in PA and it is filled with great freestone water loaded with wild trout.

Mike actually didnt say whether it was exactly a bad thing to stand in the stream (well during spawning times, yes) while fishing but he pointed out that it isnt really always necessary and that he seldom does so himself. I find that after being guided by him a couple times i dont see the need to do it in the spring creeks as much as I did before though. He made a great analogy while he was fishing the trico hatch with me... " you don't want to intrude on the fish". It stuck with me and definitely will affect how i make my approach from here on out.

As far a Spring Creeks in Ohio... there are 2 that i know of... one called Cedar Run over in the Mad River drainage that is entirely owned by a trout fishing club and one in Sandusky (near Cedar Point) called Cold Creek. That one is entirely private as well with the source and headwaters owned by the state who runs the Castalia fish hatchery there and various trout clubs owning most of the rest of it. it's source is an old landmark called the Blue Hole of Castalia (google it, youll find pictures), a spring that is about 100 yards wide and seems to have no bottom. Naturally these 2 streams do NOT have native populations of trout but as far as i am aware they both hold wild populations that extend from hatchery stock. There is a lottery chosen every year to fish the hedwaters area owned by the hatchery but unfortunately you have to keep what you catch and i dont eat fish so i have never entered. So basically theyre not even worth the time unless you know someone. Ohio isnt known as a decent cold water fishery for a reason... haha. I'll just stick to south central PA. Sure, its 4 hours away for me but hey, at least it aint 5.

Posted on: 2008/10/31 15:30

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A good friend will come and bail you out of jail. But... a true friend will be sitting next to you saying, "Damn...that was fun."

I'm over halfway done with Mike Heck's book, and he is pretty observant. It is a nice book, too. The paper is top quality, and the photography is excellent. As a long-time fly-fisherman, I am, unfortunately, pretty set in my ways. If I wanted to experiment with flies, Heck's flies that include CDC might be fun to try. Anyhow, the book is a good one, one that PA fly-fishermen ought to have on their shelves.

I have to say I read this post when it came up and immediately ordered it from Amazon. I read it in 2 days! Great read I am a newbie to fly fishing and tying but really enjoyed it and will read it again.

Posted on: 2009/1/23 17:06

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Hot and Dangerous if your one of us then roll with us.............

I finished it, and I haven't changed my opinion. It is a fine book--and not just for newcomers to fly-fishing. As an old fisherman, I know that many of the "young lions" can fish circles around me. I watched one last spring fishing a section of water I'd already fished through, thoroughly, I thought. I saw him land two fish from a pocket of water where I'd already landed a fish. He's getting married soon, so maybe he won't have so many fish wised up! (Just kidding) Anyhow, the Heck book is a fine book for fly-fishermen of all levels of experience. I encourage you to add it to your library.P.S. -- If I sound like an agent for Mike Heck, I have never met him. This is my honest appraisal of his fine book.